1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit package.
2. Description of Related Art
Most commercially available integrated circuits (ICs) are housed within a plastic or ceramic package. The IC is typically coupled to a lead frame which has leads that extend from the exterior of the package. The leads are soldered to a printed circuit board which couples the IC to other electrical devices.
The lead frames are typically coupled to the integrated circuit die by using either a number of individual wires (wire bonding) or a tape which has a plurality of leads (TAB tape). Each TAB tape contains a sheet of dielectric which has a plurality of conductive leads etched into a pattern along one surface of the tape. The TAB tape is typically rectangular in shape and includes a center opening which provides clearance for the IC die. The leads each have a finger portion which extends beyond the center opening of the tape and are bonded to contact bumps located on the outer edge of the die.
To reduce the cost of producing integrated circuit packages, it is desirable to construct a single package which can house a variety of die sizes. Installing various size dies using conventional TAB tape requires that each tape be constructed so that the leads are long enough to attach the lead frame to the contact bumps of the die. This typically requires varying the size of the center opening so that the leads of the tape match the profile of the die. Each die size therefore has a corresponding TAB tape. Using a number of different TAP tape sizes, increases the complexity of assembling the package. It would therefore be desirable to have a single TAB tape which can couple a lead frame to any one of a number of different IC dies.